“Should I book it?” Dylan looked between Jase and me.
I nodded. “Yeah. It’d be fun.”
“You sure?” Jase asked, a huge smile spreading across his face.
I gave him a smile in return. “I can’t imagine a better way to start the new year than a trip with my two guys.”
14
Jase
Two days after Christmas,Dylan and I sat at our gate in Atlanta after taking a red-eye out of Portland to head to St. John. Just before boarding, my phone vibrated with a text:
Faye: Plane is taking off. See you on the island!
Can’t wait, Princess! We should be boarding our flight soon
Dylan: Can’t believe we have an entire week to eat you … I mean see you
Faye: Pretty sure you mean both
Fuck yeah. I didn’t even pack that many clothes. I plan to be naked most of the time
Dylan: Ditto
Faye: I’m not going to complain
Not only were we going to be with Faye for an entire week, but we were going to bealonewith her for an entire week. I wasn’t sure how she managed it, but she said something about signing off on her protection and her father agreeing that she could go to St. John for seven days by herself.
The villa we were staying at was private, with its own coral beach, a fire pit, and a pool I couldn’t wait to skinny-dip in. When I said I planned to be naked most of the time, I meant it. There were no neighbors near the house, and I didn’t think we’d see anyone the whole time unless we went into town.
And there was nothing wrong with that.
The gate agent called us to board, and after we were in the air, I slid my phone into the pocket of my hoodie and thought back to college, when parties and any trip for an away game with a hotel stay were some of the best moments in my life. I’d have a good time with a cute girl, maybe share details with Dylan, then move on to the next hookup.
What we were doing with Faye felt nothing like that at all.
I missed her whenever her name didn’t show up on my phone. It wasn’t just the dirty texts or the private pictures she sent. I liked the late-night messages about a cooking show that made her hungry at midnight, or about a holiday or political event she had to sit through. She’d text after those nights, give a rundown of who annoyed her and which dessert was actually worth the calories. She’d ask how our day was, how our families were doing, and whether we knew what Tyler and Hayden were having yet. They still hadn’t shared it with us, and I wasn’t sure why. Maybe they didn’t know and were waiting until the baby was born. Whatever the case with my brother and his husband, it still made me feel good when Faye would ask about my family.
But most of all, I liked that she called usherguys.
I shifted in my seat.
“Quit squirming,” Dylan murmured, eyes closed. “You’re stressing me out.”
“Shut up and go back to sleep.”
He yawned. “How much longer?”
I checked the flight map. “A couple of hours.”
“Wake me before we land,” he mumbled, already drifting off again. “I want to look pretty for our girl.”
Ourgirl.
Hearing him say it out loud affected me in a way I didn’t want to label yet. We belonged to her, and she belonged to us, but what would happen next month when there was likely a chance we’d all be in different states? What would happen if I was in Virginia, playing on the Sox Single-A team? Dylan might be in Tennessee, miles away on his Single-A team, and Faye would be in Massachusetts. But what about if I was brought up to Double-A or Triple-A? Or what if I made the roster and relocated to Boston? Would Faye and I keep doing whatever this was we were doing? Or did we only work when it was all three of us?
I watched the little plane move across the map on the screen in the back of the seat in front of me and tried to shut my brain off. It didn’t work. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Faye in the middle of her bed on the Cape, Dylan on one side and me on the other. Then I saw the Florida hotel room where we didn’t have to rush off, so we wouldn’t get caught. In the LA suite, she’d stretched across both our laps while room-service trays sat on the table. I wanted to make more memories with them, but what if our time was coming to an end?
